Firoz Kassam

Who is Firoz Kassam?

Firoz Kassam is a Tanzanian-born, businessman. He is the former owner of Oxford United F.C.

He was born in Tanzania, and is of Indian descent. He came to Britain as an exile during the 1970s.

In the Sunday Times Rich List 2009 ranking of the wealthiest people in the UK he was placed 309th with an estimated fortune of £180million.

Firoz Kassam made his fortune as a slum hotelier and in the 1980s was labelled a "merchant of misery". He bought run-down London hostels and hotels and was paid by local councils to fill them with homeless people and asylum seekers, until the inmates rebelled over the conditions in which they were being housed.

In 1999, Kassam bought Oxford United F.C. for only £1, also taking over its debts, estimated to be in the region of £13m. In 2000 he resumed building a 12,500-capacity stadium at Minchery Farm on the edge of Oxford, which he called the Kassam Stadium. Construction of this stadium had actually been in progress since 1997, but was suspended in the early stages due to the club's financial problems. The fourth side of the stadium was left empty due to Oxford's decline in the league, as they had dropped down two divisions while the stadium was being built. The development includes a hotel, cinema, bowling alley, gym, health centre and restaurants. Oxford United played its first game there on 18 August 2001, in Division Three of the Football League. Kassam sold the football club in 2006, but retained ownership of the stadium through his company Firoka with Oxford United as tenants. Oxford United's old home, the Manor Ground in Headington, was sold by Kassam, first to his own holding company for £6 million, and then to developers for £12 million in 1999. The ground has since been demolished and developed into the Manor Hospital, which opened in October 2004.